Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Spinach Cranberry Salad

Fresh baby spinach
Dried cranberries
Chopped walnuts (I candied them)
Finely shredded Romano cheese

Dressing:
Raspberry Walnut vinaigrette
Bernstein's Italian dressing
I mix equal amounts of both dressings together and mix in blender.

Combine all ingredients and serve with with dressing. You can put the dressing on salad before you serve it or you can leave it on the side.

Candied Walnuts

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups raw walnut halves
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Use middle rack in oven. Lay walnuts out on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 5 minutes. Test for doneness. If not quite toasted enough, toast for 1 or 2 more minutes. Be careful not to burn. Remove from oven and let cool in pan on a rack.

2 Pour sugar into a medium saucepan with a thick bottom. Have walnuts nearby, ready to quickly add to the pan at the right time. Cook sugar on medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon as soon as the sugar begins to melt. Keep stirring until all the sugar has melted and the color is a medium amber. As soon as sugar is melted and the color is a medium amber, add the walnuts to the pan, quickly stirring and coating each piece with the sugar mixture.

3 As soon as the walnuts are coated with the sugar mixture, spread them out on a rimmed baking sheet, lined either with a Silpat non-stick mat, or with wax paper or parchment paper. Use two forks to separate the walnuts from each other, working very quickly. Sprinkle the nuts with the salt. Let cool completely.

Makes 1 1/2 cups.

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